Brett43 wrote:Delonte is kinda crazy, but he's a very good player and would do well in LA. And wasn't he the starting point guard in Cleveland a few years back when they had the best record in the league? That means something.

Of course, I'd prefer like to see Delonte back in Boston as Rondo's backup. But then, I wanted to see Dwight Howard here, too.

He was the starting PG for half of year. Then They traded for Mo Williams, so Delonte slid to the 2guard spot as a starter for a year. Then......the gun thing happened and injuries. The next year in Boston, when healthy he was first man off the bench at least in terms of guards. Last Year with Dallas he again was hit with injuries, but when he was healthy, he was just as good as Jason Kidd as the starging PG and also sometimes started at the 2guard spot with Jason Kidd. Unfortunately, just couldn't stay healthy with that freak dislocated finger thing.

Jajwanda wrote:The problem I have with most of these PGs is that they aren't good defenders. If Kobe is going to create all the offense anyway why not get a guy like CDR and put him next to Kobe. Meeks can't ball handle and yet we're getting away with him at the 1. CDR is lengthier, about the same level defender, and will postup 1s as well as bring the ball down the court.

Take some risks, do some new things. A number of the great scoring PGs these days struggle against length. It's been done before on defense (96 Bulls).

They went with 4 guys that had about the same height, had length, and they absolutely suffocated the ball simply by being more athletic, strong, and tenacious. I know the standard, well it was Jordan-Pippen-Rodman snarky comment is coming, but that doesn't mean that kind of lineup can't succeed again defensively.

You forget how the game is played today, no hand checking, no bumps. That is all you need to know about why this would no longer work. Pippen/Harper was the king of the hand check and bumping..not to mention what Rodman/Ho Grant got away with.

Delonte West is a good defender at BOTH guard positions. He has limitations especially with how the game is called today, but plays within defensive systems well.

You don't need someone that physical and large as Ron Harper. Give me someone the same profile as Dwayne Wade on defense. Someone about 6-4, good lateral quickness/strength, and willing to fight through screens.

Harper was much slower by the point he was a PG and so he had to bump and hand check.

West would work. The only way you can stop guard penetration is through length and overall defensive foot speed. Guys like Russell Westbrook struggle against that (Rose as well) because they're simply not used to guys their own size or larger than them keeping up with them.

Delonte is fantastic running through screens and playing tough. He doesn't necessarily have the greatest foot speed though. He is smart and has an extra gear of tenacity at point of attack, surprisingly explosiveness if you will. Against Rose/Westbrook, he might initially get beat off the dribble but will give the effort to get back in the play and alter or block shots. He has alot of block shots (and tons more shots altered) for playing against PG and bigger SGs.

I just think Delonte having Dwight back there could really work. Delonte is great as a help defender so if he does get beat off the dribble forcing others to help, delonte is heady enough to pick up the slack somewhere else.

For Lakers fans who are on the fence. Once you start following him and watching him play nightly, you will be glad he is on your team. You will see his flaws right off the bat, but will admire still what he brings to the table. All the fans in each city that have been able to watch alot of games, has fallen into this same pattern. Laker fans haven't seen him play alot as Delonte hasn't played many games against the Lakers due to a variety of reasons.

Just beware that you will see some flaws. The most glaring flaws is that sometimes Delonte goes through a one minute or two stretches usually in the 2nd or 3rd quarters where he turns the ball over on 2 consecutive possessions. He'll follow a bad pass with a charging foul. Or a long errant pass with a traveling call. It just seems how it is. Also, you will see that he is extremely left hand dominant when dribbling. He is also very injury prone to freak injures which is contradictory. When he plays with his reckless abandon, he will get messed up fingers, wrists, ankles; he will fall on his back, poked in the eye, etc. Sometimes he will stick with a play too long when the play has already broken down to someone else messing up or the other team blows it up, he will take too long to realize he needs to create something. Lastly, you definitely see sometimes his temper boiling up. This doesn't seem to happen that much but when it does he'll usually get a tech or go afte r a block or steal or rebound really aggressively. Sometimes its good sometimes you will a reckless play.

As long as Pau is not involved and Bargnani isn't coming back, I'd love a rental of Calderon. He's pretty much perfect for this system and while he lacks the defensive pedigree he can still do a lot of good things on offense to offset those weaknesses and every top team has one guy that they hide on the opposition's weakest player anyways.

You are entitled to your opinion but you are not entitled to your own facts - Daniel Patrick Moynihan